Zoomin' Zak Plunge & Plod Biathlon 2011

Last Sunday, it was back to the swim/run Peaman events for the Zoomin' Zak Plunge and Plod Biathlon. Originally scheduled to be a 1/2 mile swim and 3.9 mile run, the swim course ended up being shortened a little bit (great news for poor swimmers like me!). Since the kayaks weren't there to tow the turnaround buoy out, the buoy ended up as far as out as Doug Henbest could swim it before the start of the race, which was about 1/3 mile.

The shorter swim created a little more traffic, but the ocean was relatively calm, so it wasn't too bad. My big problem for the day was being able to see. The water was pretty murky, and then my goggles kept fogging and filling up, so I couldn't see to sight anything. I just tried to stay behind the bubbles and splashes in front of me. That went horribly wrong at one point when I realized I was about even with the turnaround buoy, but about 50 yards west of it - all by myself. I had to do a 90 degree turn and head straight for the buoy before turning around. I wanted to kick myself for turning what should have been a short, easy swim into a real challenge.

Up in the front of the race, things were very interesting. Professional triathletes Matty Reed and Chris Lieto were battling it out for the win. After coming out of the water around the same time, Matty took off and put some time on Chris. Coming out of the water next were high school swimmers Madison Hauanio and Leahi Camacho. Leahi tagged off to her relay partner Jason for the run. Chris was never able to catch Matty, and Jason was never able to catch Chris, but the competition made for a good race for all of them. Matty won in a time of 26:50; Chris came in at 27:34; and Jason and Leahi's relay finished in 29:46. Sam Corace finished in third place overall in a time of 31:52, pretty impressive considering he and his fiance welcomed a new baby this week! Congrats to them!

On the ladies' side, Rani Tanimoto came in first in 33:10, followed by Shannon Donley in 34:34, and Jeni Winegarner in 37:44. (I followed my long swim up with a pretty strong run to finish in 41:25.) The Peawee race was a close one with Silas Wiley taking first in 12:50, followed by Kekoa Kolman in 12:55. Third place went to Ragan Leslie in 13:11. Full results from the races are here.

Since both Jason and I participated in the race, we could only get pictures after we finished. Here are some we managed to snap:

Becky Prater and her coach/husband.

Stacey Newman and Maggie

Joe Loschiavo and Laura Dierenfield

Peaman

Super sisters Bobbi and Robin

Mark Curry and a scared-looking Brandon - slow down, Dad!

This week we have events on both Saturday and Sunday in Kona. First up on Saturday is the 4th annual Run for Hops at the Kona Brewing Company. These 5k/10k races presented by Bike Works benefit PATH and start at 7:30 a.m. These races are always popular for the post-race beer selection, which is a prelude to the Kona Brewers Festival occurring later that day. There's still time to sign up, so get those registrations in!

On Sunday, Kealakehe High School senior Geoff Whitener is hosting a free swim/run biathlon as part of his senior project. The event will be a 1/3 mile swim and a 2-mile run starting at the pier at 8:00 a.m. We hope everyone comes out to support a great local teen!